Quigley said the interest from 10 parties for the remains of the company, including Wesfarmers and Macquarie Group, also could mean the start of a new story, rather than the end of an old one.

Virgin Australia collapsed this week under the weight of a debt load of $5 billion.

Quigley, who is an associate professor at UniSA, said Virgin could also just be the first of a number of airline collapses around the globe because of the shutdown of travel in major markets.

And the Government’s decision to not bail out Virgin was the correct decision because had it done so, it could have prevented airlines from evolving into a post COVID-19 world.

“A bailout may have saved jobs in the short term, but Virgin was already struggling before this pandemic, so if the Government were to prop up a problematic business model, many other struggling businesses might then expect the same type of support rather than addressing their operational issues,” Quigley said.

“Instead, there is now a space in the Australian airline industry for an innovate new operator to establish a viable business model that responds to the current situation.”

She said when one operator drops out, there was more space for other operators to work in.

“But significantly, for whoever fills the Virgin void in Australia may well come out of the lockdown before international travel resumes, so more Australians could be exploring more than ever before and the domestic market might see a post-pandemic world,” she said.

But without a second airline to compete against Qantas there is a potential for price gouging.

“Even before this pandemic, many people thought the domestic prices were too high so would fly to Bali or Fiji rather than Cairns and we don’t want to see that worsen,” she said.

Regional Tourism Australia’s Donna Foster said she was hoping for a resurgence in domestic travel in regional and rural Australia.

She said while some tourism businesses have had to shut their doors, for those that survive the return of the old fashioned Aussie road trip would be crucial.

“I think taking a roadie, it’s going to take a whole new meaning for Australians,” she said.

Chief executive of Visit Sunshine Coast, Simon Latchford, was hopeful travel within states and territories might open up by July 1.

“That is our best-case guesstimate based on information available, we don’t know that this virus might change or regroup and that’s been part of the challenge, it’s been so unpredictable,” Latchford said.

Regional Australia Institute chief economist Kim Houghton said the places that would be most affected by coronavirus would be small towns rather than big holiday destinations such as those in south-east Queensland.

“So for those smaller places where there isn’t a lot a lot of other activity going on, reliance on tourism is much higher, paradoxically, than in some of those more well-known tourism destinations,” she said.

But he said they would also be attractive, low-risk destinations when local travel opened up again.

“If the rural places, regional places can maintain that sense of safety from the virus that will put them in good standing as potential destinations for that first round of visits,” he said.

It is hoped that a surge in domestic tourism will make up for the shortfall of international visitors, but Houghton warned that not everyone would be able to afford to go on holidays.

“I think we’re going to see a real split in the community between those that have been able to keep working and those that aren’t,” he said.

“So I think we’re looking really at a fairly significant reduction in the number of people who might be willing to travel.”

– Additional reporting: ABC / the national regional reporting team’s Rachel Carbonell and Jess Davis